Quest A Sword Through the Multiverse: Stabbing Space Whales[A FSN/Worm quest]

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A Brave New World 10
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    • Speaker4thesilent

    Speaker4thesilent

    Crazed Deplorable
    [X] - Innovative Cuisine.

    [X] - Socialize with Arturia.

    [X] - Investigate the disturbance.


    A Brave New World 10​

    Monday began with a bout of researching to help get Saber up to date on the realities of modern building codes. After hours of only that, you desperately wanted to do something, anything else. With a light first course offering already added to the dinner menu, you felt inspired to continue in the same vein. Turbot was a popular whitefish, but the preparation currently in use at the Ritz was underwhelming, in your opinion.

    So you set out to fix it. Taking inspiration from traditional japanese methods, you combined sake, mirin, shoyu, and sugar along with just a couple drops of Worcestershire sauce into a braising liquid.

    Taking a filet of Turbot, you trimmed it down into serving-sized pieces, then prepared them for braising by slowly pouring boiling water over them, then draining them to do some initial cooking and also remove the last bits of fishy-tasting debris.

    Placing the pieces of fish, you arranged them in the braising liquid and improvised a Japanese-style drop lid. By that time, you were ready to begin slowly steaming some mixed cauliflower and broccoli florets.

    Saber, attracted by the smell, was already waiting for you at the counter in your apartment by the time you turned away from the stove to prepare place settings.

    “Another new dish?” she inquired.

    You nodded as you set out the silverware and prepped the individual dishes you’d be using for the fish.

    “It seemed appropriate to strike while the iron was hot,” you explained. “This way, if we get busy with other things, I have a store of goodwill built up with my bosses.”

    “Well, it smells quite good. What is it this time?” she asked.

    “A different preparation for turbot. I think it will respond well to the method, other white fish certainly do,” you responded. Checking the dish, you nodded and added the ginger and some tamari soy sauce to help thicken the braising liquid into a sauce.

    “Five more minutes, I think,” you said as you reached for a bottle of white wine and the cork remover.

    Arturia accepted a glass and sipped, and the conversation fell into a pleasant lull.

    “So are you looking forward to working on the kitchen at the townhouse?” she asked as you were plating up the portions.

    “Yes,” you declared firmly, “this isn’t bad, especially for the size, but I’m looking forward to eating at a real table,” you admitted as you slid a dish in front of your wife. The piece of turbot in the bottom with some of the thickened braising liquid pooled around it and the vegetables, just barely cooked through, piled on top for a splash of color.

    Arturia was as appreciative of good food as always, but you thought you’d need to add something else to the vegetable mix for a bit more color. Maybe some butternut squash?

    ASTtM​

    Your initial efforts to teach the recipe to the chefs at the Ritz were something of a flop. The ginger was added either too early or too late, and tended to be cut either too fine or too thick.

    Worse, the need to pick up the new recipe distracted your performance chefs, and it seemed like whenever they were keyed in to learn, you were distracted with obtaining a supply of tamari or the other accounting elements of the job. The progress there was less than impressive. You just had to shrug it off, though. There was no point in getting frustrated, and the books were still well in the black. Though you hadn’t done much to change the breakfast or afternoon tea offerings, even those services were being booked in increasing numbers.

    Lunch and dinner services, in contrast, were already entirely booked for the weekend by noon on Wednesday.

    ASTtM​

    When you got home from dealing with all that, you at least arrived to good news. The permits were dealt with. All of them.

    Arturia, it seemed, had pulled out all the stops after the debacle with the bank and launched an all-out charm assault that had taken the bureaucrats at City Hall by storm.

    Her characterization of the property as one desperately in need of repairs and remodeling after the previous owner had let it become run down had ensured the bureaucrats that wanted to see older areas of the city gentrified were onside. Meanwhile, her descriptions of the way the building had been modified and the plans to reverse that had those concerned with the protection and restoration of historical buildings practically chomping at the bit to clear obstructions from her path.

    You just wish you’d been able to see it in person instead of hearing about it after the fact. It does mean that so long as you meet code with your renovations that the bureaucracy of the job is out of the way.

    For that alone, you’re happy to spoil her with a home-cooked meal complete with brownies à la mode for desert.

    ASTtM​

    Going out for food is the sort of date that most people would be familiar with. You, on the other hand, didn’t tend to go out to eat at restaurants. Back in Japan, either you or Sakura would have done the cooking, and once you ended up as one of Serenity’s troubleshooters, going out for a quick bite to eat had a tendency to turn into a three-ring media circus.

    On the other hand, there were just some things that you could not cook adequately in an apartment’s kitchen. Neapolitan-style pizza was one of those things.

    Arturia bit down on a slice with a crunch, a string of fresh mozzarella cheese connecting her to the pizza momentarily before a second bite severed it. She glanced at you, embarrassed for some reason; you pretended not to have noticed, and finished off your own slice, the aromatic fresh basil and acidic taste of the tomatoes a sharp contrast to the cheese.

    “Pizza from a wood-fired oven like this really is a treat,” you said. And even though you really enjoyed cooking, you also appreciated an evening off in the middle of the week.

    “I agree,” Saber stated elegantly before diving back in for another bite.

    “Maybe we should plan to have one in the front courtyard?” you teased, then paused for a moment as Arturia seemed to seriously consider the idea.

    “No,” she said regretfully after a long moment’s thought, “If we had a rear or side courtyard we could set it up as an outdoor extension of the kitchen for parties or just for use during good weather, but having the kitchen share part of the foyer …” she trailed off with a shake of her head.

    “Good,” you replied, “because I don’t think we could afford one. They are expensive, even if they are worth it for a place like this.”

    You scooped up a second slice and settled in to people-watch a bit from your position in one of the restaurant’s corner booths. Beside you, Arturia finished her own slice then rested her head on your shoulder.

    “This is nice,” she said after a few moments.

    “I was so tired of the quiet on Avalon,” she continued. “When I first arrived there … it was a relief to just wait and rest. The end of my rule was so chaotic that Avalon was wonderful in comparison, but by the end of my time there the silence felt more like that of a tomb. Everything there had become as much of a strain as the battle at Camlann.”

    You just reached up and wrapped your arm around her shoulders. Your own time had been its own sort of difficult, but at least you’d had friends and companions to live and fight alongside for most of it. You tried to find something to say, but Arturia spoke again before you could.

    “I could spend another thousand years of peaceful days like this and not grow weary of them with you at my side.”

    ASTtM​

    After several days with no response from the government, you were surprised when the call you put in to the police department just after noon on Thursday was met with a request for an appearance.

    “Sorry it took so long to hear back from anyone, but, uh, they don’t seem to have believed us initially. Took a while to filter up to someone that did.”

    “Not a problem,” you assured the police Sergeant, “I’ve been in that situation before. Anything in particular that I need to bring or any time in particular?”

    “Nothing on the former, but they’d like you here just as soon as you can arrive,” the policeman explained.

    That was inconvenient. Arturia had a shift starting in another couple of hours. You, on the other hand, had spent plenty of time at the restaurant over the last couple days. No one would comment if you didn’t come in until later today, and if you called to let them know not to expect you, you could get away with taking the day off entirely.

    “If that ‘you’ was plural,” you began, “I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you. Saber will be busy today, but I can be at the precinct in fifteen minutes if I hurry.”

    “SO-1 was hoping for both of you, but as stressed as the bloke I talked to sounded, I think they’ll be glad for any help you can give them. I’ll put a call in to let them know you’ll be here soon,” the Sergeant said and hung up. You likewise let the out-of-the-way payphone drop back down on its cradle

    The name of the organization made you think for a moment. Wasn’t SO1 the branch that had been in charge of protecting government officials back when you and Rin had first arrived in London? Seemed like your hunch about the situation with the PM’s residence was correct.

    Parkour along London’s rooftops was still faster than running along the sidewalk or trying to find public transportation, especially near noon, and you made decent time. When you arrived at the station, you were ushered inside and shown to a small briefing room. It was only about another ten minutes before two men in suits joined you.

    You stood as they entered.

    “You’d be Guardian, then?” the first man, fairly tall and with brown hair asked as he extended his hand. “I’m Officer Perry with SO1. This,” he indicated his partner, a redhead like you, but shorter by several centimeters, “is Officer James.”

    “Nice to meet you,” you replied as you shook hands with them. Both of them had firm grips and the callouses of men who were well practiced with firearms.

    “I’ll cut right to the chase,” Officer Perry continued, “we’d like you to come down to number ten and take a look around. We could use a consultation from someone who seems to have some sort of clue of what the hell’s going on with this comic book lunacy.”

    “Oh?” you asked mildly as Officer James rolled the television and VCR over.

    “We heard about the recommendations you made for containing Mister Martin,” Perry explained. “They’ve been followed religiously, and we haven’t had so much as a spot of trouble out of him since the arrest.

    “We’re hoping you can help us secure the PM’s residence against someone else with some sort of weird ability.”

    “I take it you have a video of them in action?” you asked as James got the TV turned on and hit play on the VCR.

    “Yes, I’ll let you watch and I can answer questions after,” he replied.

    So you sat back and watched. The camera quality wasn’t great, but it was better than anything you’d seen when you were looking on your own. The shot showed a side view of what appeared to be an exterior door with nothing notable happening. Then, just as you were completing the thought, spots on the ground started appearing as one of London’s frequent rain showers kicked off.

    A few seconds later, there was a shower of sparks, and a man, clad all in black, appeared kneeling in front of the door, something extended from his hand toward the lock. Lockpicks, maybe? The man then flinched clearly as he realized he was visible. He jerked himself away from the door and fled.

    You sat down and leaned back as James paused the video.

    “Need to see it again?” he inquired, but you waved him off.

    “That wasn’t the same thing as David Martin could do,” you declared immediately. “Did you see that shower of sparks? It came from the figure’s lower back. That’s telling. The front part of his body was protected from the rain by the overhang of the roof and the door jamb, but the back part of his body wasn’t.

    “So, when he got hit by a raindrop, whatever device he had that was maintaining that invisibility field shorted out, and the field collapsed,” you declared.

    “Invisibility field?” Perry demanded with the sort of tone that meant he really wished he wasn’t hearing what he was hearing.

    “Device?” Jones asked, practically on top of his partner’s question.

    “Yes,” you confirmed for both. “Unfortunately, without a sample of the technology, there’s not much I can tell you about limitations or possible countermeasures. What I can tell you, is that he probably won’t be back until he’s fixed whatever caused the short. Again, I can’t guess when that might be, but he’s already had close to two weeks. Depending on his resources, he might be close to a fix, or he might be months away. I just can’t tell you.

    “The second piece of advice I can give you is that when he comes back, expect him to have a plan for if his invisibility fails like that again,” you warned the officers.

    “Anything else?” Perry inquired. His tone added the demand, ‘anything we can use?’

    You stood up and moved toward the VCR.

    “May I?” you asked, and Officer James waved his hand.

    “Be my guest.”

    It took you a couple of tries to get it right, but eventually you were able to stop the recording with a shape on the right side of the man’s body highlighted just right against a lighter background.

    “What does that look like to you?” you asked. With the relatively poor quality of the video, neither officer seemed to be able to differentiate the shape, black against the black of the stealth suit the man was wearing, until you traced it out for them.

    “Shit,” Perry said at the unmistakable shape of a silenced pistol.

    “Is there anything else you can give us? Any help at all?” James asked. “With the way this coincided with an uptick in the violence in Northern Ireland … I can’t help thinking that the only reason the press wasn’t reporting the assassination of the PM last week is a freak rainstorm.”

    Both of them were definitely rattled, and you hadn’t been able to give them any easy answers. While Specialist Protection was good at their jobs under normal circumstances, people that could fire lasers or turn invisible were hardly normal.

    “Not without physically poking around Number Ten to see what countermeasures could be put in place,” you admitted.

    “Do you have time now?” Perry asked. That took you aback. They must really be shaken up if they were letting someone with no confirmed ID into the PM’s residence in just the hope that he’d be able to help.

    “Yes, I can come with you,” you agreed.

    ASTtM​

    The drive only seemed to take forever. Perry had stayed behind at the police station to handle the details of clearing you through the Prime Minister’s security, which left James as your escort when you arrived. A quick walk around the perimeter of the building was enough to draw a wince from you. With the threat potential of an invisible attacker, the physical security situation was … poor.

    You wanted defense in depth for this sort of scenario, and there simply wasn’t a lot of room for that in the middle of London. If, for instance, the man was able to build an invisible bomb, he was all but guaranteed to be able to gain entry into the residence.

    Entering the residence, you were actually a little bit relieved. Staircases and entryways were fairly tight without lots of room to move around. That meant things like continuous guard patrols, though low-tech and manpower intensive, could be a worthwhile precaution to suggest. Difficulties, however, included some quite large windows and the sheer size of the building. It would be all too easy to lose track of a single entrance for a moment, and once an infiltrator was inside, catching him would be rendered very difficult.

    Thankfully, increased manpower was one thing that seemed to be present in spades around the residence. You had a suspicion why, but weren’t sure until a pair of heavily armed guards ushered you into the Prime Minister’s office.

    There you found Margaret Hilda Thatcher, The Iron Lady herself, behind the desk.

    “Madame Prime Minister,” you said as you drew yourself up and bowed formally and reflexively as you would have when visiting a foreign head of state in Serenity’s service.

    “Good afternoon, young man,” she responded, giving you a level look for a long moment before continuing. “I would like to thank you for assisting the police with the matter of David Martin. He was difficult enough for them to capture the first time. After his breakout and the subsequent development of his unusual abilities, he was much more dangerous to pursue. You undoubtedly saved lives with your actions.”

    “Thank you, Ma’am,” you said when she paused.

    “I am told that you believe that the man discovered attempting to break into the residence here was a different case than Mister Martin. How so?”

    “Supposition,” you answered, “but he appeared to be using technology rather than whatever allowed David Martin to run up walls and fire beams of light. I suppose the technology could have been created by use of a similar power,” you admitted, “but there was no evidence of that on the recording.”

    Baroness Thatcher opened her mouth to speak again, but you were distracted by a thud from outside the doors behind you followed by a second softer thump, and a muttered curse and … dripping? You drew in a breath as you turned, and caught an iron tang to the air, the scent of spilled blood.

    You know without having to see it that the guards outside the room are dead. You have only a moment or two before whoever is out there opens the doors. You decide to -

    [ ] - Attack. You trace a half-dozen protophantasms and fire them through the door blind.

    [ ] - Defend. Defensive Noble Phantasms are currently out of your reach, but you can layer enough mundane shields between Prime Minister Thatcher and any attack to keep her safe.

    [ ] - Something else. Write in. (Will need GM approval.)

    Recipe creation roll, Intelligence+Craft(Cooking): 11d10=5 successes.

    Teaching roll week one, Charisma+Performance: 2d10(This is where that lack of a stunt really hurts you)=1 success.

    Teaching the performance chefs first week, Charism+Performance+stunt dice:4d10=1 success

    Obtaining permits, prepping Arturia Intelligence+Bureaucracy: 4d10=4 successes.

    Arturia’s social combat, Charisma+Bureaucracy: 10d10+4=9 successes. Total victory achieved.

    Observation, Perception+Awareness: 10d10+3= 9 successes.

    Analysis, Intelligence+Craft(Magitech): 8d10=18 successes on the reroll.

    Noticing something wrong, Perception+Awareness:10d10=8 successes. Versus 5 successes.

    Join battle, Wits+Awareness: 9d10=4 successes. Versus 2 successes. Shirou goes first.

    You rolled a 90 on your luck check. Without that, the assassin would have had a very solid chance of killing the PM before you had a chance to intervene. Event roll for England in March was a 3.
    Thanks to Seraviel for beta work. Vote will again be open until Friday. Going to go with a two hour voting moratorium. Remember, Stunts Are Encouraged.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • ConfusedCanadian

    ConfusedCanadian

    Well-known member
    [X] - Defend. Defensive Noble Phantasms are currently out of your reach, but you can layer enough mundane shields between Prime Minister Thatcher and any attack to keep her safe.
    -[X] Place yourself between the door and the prime minister on top of that, to shield her from bullets, and use reinforcement on yourself to make you sure you don’t die.
    -[X] Tell the Prime minister to hide behind the desk.
    -[X] Look for an opportunity to counter attack, with the aim being capture if possible, you need to knows if it is an isolated lone wolf attempt, or if there is more behind this attack, according to your own estimate he would have needed some serious resources in order to pull this off again so soon.

    Changing my vote to Arlos better formatting in my opinion.
     
    Last edited:
    Speaker4thesilent

    Speaker4thesilent

    Crazed Deplorable
    ConfusedCanadian said:
    [X] - Defend. Defensive Noble Phantasms are currently out of your reach, but you can layer enough mundane shields between Prime Minister Thatcher and any attack to keep her safe.- Our first priority here is to see to the safety of the Prime Minister create cover for her to hide behind. We are also at an advantage here the assailant most likely doesn't know we are here. When said assailant enters attack before he can respond with the goal to capture him if possible and kill if not too much is at risk with the Prime Minister right behind you.

    Ho boy looks glad we decided to continue looking into the disturbance. And jeez Stunts do help us with passing our rolls so with that in mind here's my idea with the prime ministers right behind us her safety is our primary concern. We should see to her safety first afterwards we can try to capture this assailant and if we're unable to well with the prime minister right behind us I have no intention to take risks we kill him if he becomes too difficult to capture. And with that said it's late for me so good night and naturally I'm open to discussion over the stunt or what we should do!
    Click to expand...
    Moratorium, bruh.
     
    Tolack

    Tolack

    Active member
    Investigating was a very good choice. Between the default options of firing blind and hoping to hit, and defending the PM for sure (unless the assassin is using a tinker tech weapon instead of a much simpler silenced pistol), I'd prefer to make sure the PM doesn't die.

    Would covering in a half sphere of metal or picking her up and escaping out a window be viable options? Guardian will be much faster than the assassin, so if we could relocate the PM to a safe room and guards, we could then pursue the stealthy boi with less worries.
     
    Speaker4thesilent

    Speaker4thesilent

    Crazed Deplorable
    Tolack said:
    Would covering in a half sphere of metal or picking her up and escaping out a window be viable options? Guardian will be much faster than the assassin, so if we could relocate the PM to a safe room and guards, we could then pursue the stealthy boi with less worries.
    Click to expand...
    Tracing some sort of heavy blast shield is certainly possible. Please keep in mind time limitations and the relative fragility of the human body compared to Shirou.

    Edit: voting is open, btw. Not as much discussion as hoped. I will likely continue to experiment with voting moratoriums in the future.
     
    Last edited:
    Arlos

    Arlos

    Sad Monarchist
    I would say that, on top of protecting the prime minister with traced shields, we should also put our body between her and the door and renforce ourselves, we don’t fear bullet as much as normal Humans.
    and tell her to get down under the desk as well.
     
    Arlos

    Arlos

    Sad Monarchist
    [X] - Defend. Defensive Noble Phantasms are currently out of your reach, but you can layer enough mundane shields between Prime Minister Thatcher and any attack to keep her safe.
    -[X] Place yourself between the door and the prime minister on top of that, to shield her from bullets, and use renforcement on yourself to make you sure you don’t die.
    -[X] Tell the Prime minister to hide behind the desk.
    -[X] Look for an opportunity to counter attack, with the aim being capture if possible, you need to knows if it is an isolated lone wolf attempt, or if there is more behind this attack, according to your own estimate he would have needed some serious ressources in order to pull this off again so soon.

    Sorry for the double post
     
    Martenzo

    Martenzo

    Active member
    [X] - Defend. Defensive Noble Phantasms are currently out of your reach, but you can layer enough mundane shields between Prime Minister Thatcher and any attack to keep her safe.
     
    Shador

    Shador

    Member
    [X] - Defend. Defensive Noble Phantasms are currently out of your reach, but you can layer enough mundane shields between Prime Minister Thatcher and any attack to keep her safe.
     
    ironforge

    ironforge

    Active member
    [X] - Defend. Defensive Noble Phantasms are currently out of your reach, but you can layer enough mundane shields between Prime Minister Thatcher and any attack to keep her safe.
    -[X] Place yourself between the door and the prime minister on top of that, to shield her from bullets, and use reinforcement on yourself to make you sure you don’t die.
    -[X] Tell the Prime minister to hide behind the desk.
    -[X] Look for an opportunity to counter attack, with the aim being capture if possible, you need to knows if it is an isolated lone wolf attempt, or if there is more behind this attack, according to your own estimate he would have needed some serious resources in order to pull this off again so soon.
     
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